Press Release No. 120

ORBITA vs ORBITER – DISPUTE SETTLED

Orbita Corporation has withdrawn the protest action it previously filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office against Breitling SA of Grenchen, Switzerland.

Breitling, a well-known and respected watch manufacturer applied to register the name Orbiter in the US soon after the successful circumnavigation of the globe by the Orbiter 3 Balloon which they sponsored.  Orbita maintained that the two names were “confusingly similar”, a position which Breitling originally denied but one which they eventually agreed.

Orbita is an international manufacturer of Watchwinders and sells them to retail jewelers all over the world, including numerous Breitling dealers, and was concerned that the two names would be easily confused by retail dealers and customers.  Moreover, they viewed a possibility that Breitling might one day decide to market watchwinders using the Orbiter name, and that clearly would be a violation of Orbita’s registered trademark protection.

Chuck Agnoff, President of Orbita, commented “Interestingly, we learned that the situation was exactly reversed in Europe where the Orbiter name was registered by Breitling well in advance of our application.”  He stated, “While the terms of our settlement agreement are confidential, I am happy to say that the matter was resolved amiably and left both parties where they wanted to be”.